APC dismisses alleged violent campaigns in Sokoto

The Sokoto State chapter of the All Progressives Congress &lpar;APC&rpar; on Friday dismissed claims of engaging in volatile campaigns levelled against it by the Peoples Democratic Party &lpar;PDP&rpar;&period;

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Spokesperson of the state’s APC&comma; Alhaji Bello Danchadi&comma; in an interactive session with newsmen in Sokoto&comma; said that the allegation was aimed at tarnishing the image of the party&period;

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Danchadi said the action was also a manifestation of the PDP’s weakness and acceptance of defeat&semi; and urged the electorate to disregard the claims&period;

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The APC chieftain assured the people of the state that the party was focused on election victory&semi; and would ensure qualitative leadership in Sokoto after winning the elections&period;

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He said that it was on record that neither the security agencies&comma; nor journalists&comma; have reported any wrongdoings during the APC campaigns&period;

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“It is surprising that a political party&comma; such as the PDP&comma; which governed the country for 16 years&comma; would be making such unsubstantiated claims&period;

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“PDP in Sokoto presumes that the only option is to create a false alarm as a form of psychological warfare in order to obtain public political sympathy&comma;’’ Danchadi said&period;

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The News Agency of Nigeria &lpar;NAN&rpar; reports that the PDP had earlier in a statement signed by its state Public Relations Officer &lpar;PRO&rpar; Mr Abdullahi Hausawa&comma; alleged that the APC was engaged in violent election campaigns&period;

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Hausawa alleged that a couple of months ago&comma; PDP had complained to security agencies about the issue&period;

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“The PDP in Sokoto State wishes to draw the attention of all the security agencies in the state and law abiding members of the public&comma; to the established and institutionalised culture of violence assumed by the APC in our state&period;

He also said that the APC campaign conducted in Dange on Jan&period; 5&comma; was characterised by attacks on a PDP health facility&comma; where several vehicles were smashed&comma; the building vandalised and members of staff of the center were robbed&period;

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The PDP PRO in Sokoto said shops were also damaged during the attack&period;

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Hausawa further alleged that attempts were made by APC thugs to disrupt the PDP campaign on Jan&period; 9&comma; in Binji&comma; but security agents had intervened by dispersing the invaders with teargas&period;